Sikorski agreed on nobody knows what with Lukashenka

During the meeting with the Belarusian dictator Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski didn’t mention a word about total violations of human rights of all Belarusians in Belarus.

On February 25 Alyaksandr Lukashenka held a meeting with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Kyiv. As informed by Belarusian and Polish mass media, at the meeting Polish-Belarusian relations were discussed, as well as the conflict related to the Union of Poles in Belarus. The occasion for the meeting was a swearing in ceremony of President elect of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. The meeting of Lukashenka and Sikorski lasted for more than an hour, two times longer than planned.

It is reported that a decision was adopted that the Belarusian side together with Poles would create a group of experts on issues of the Polish minority. As said by Sikorski, the fact that Lukashenka hadn’t denied to meet shows that “Belarus takes Belarusian-Polish and Belarusian-European relations seriously”.

The Belarusian ruler however avoided specifics. He hinted that he is going to resolve problems of Belarusian Poles himself. He underlined that “he would do everything for Poles in Belarus to live well”, the Polish Radio reports.

“When solving any problems, which exist between Poland and Belarus, and especially the issues you are talking about, you should proceed from the fact that 200,000 persons of Polish origin are my Poles, they are my voters, and I am responsible for them, I’ll stake my life on them. And I will do everything to make their lives in Belarus good,” Lukashenka stated.

Polish Foreign Minister expressed satisfaction that the meeting had been held, and a hope that problems of the Polish minority would be resolved soon.

“I believe our dialogue and conversation are a confirmation that the government in Belarus understands seriousness of the situation and wants to find a solution,” Sikorski said.

However after the meeting with Polish Foreign Minister, in an interview to Polish TV channel TVB 24 Alyaksandr Lukashenka stated that the situation with the Polish minority in Belarus is fine and nobody hinders them.

The Belarusian dictator was “surprised” by the question about arrests of activists of the unrecognized Union of Poles. “Nobody has gone to prison… Maybe just a few persons. However, they wanted to go, to show how bad things are here,” he said.

In his turn, during the briefing for Polish journalists Sikorski addressed the Polish media with a request “not to heat up the atmosphere” in the case of Belarus, “for experts from the both sides to formulate decisions helpful got the Polish minority”.

“I am addressing mass media and political forces of Poland with a request to let experts do their work behind the scenes without heating up the atmosphere, without provocations, so that Poles would be able to act in really independent structures in a little while, and Poland and Belarus could develop economic, cultural and political relations,” the head of Polish diplomacy said.

A note by charter97.org: It is worth mentioning that during the meeting with the Belarusian dictator Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski (unlike Polish President Lech Kaczynski and EU Parliament President Jerzy Buzek) was not discussing blatant and large-scale violations of human rights in Belarus, touching upon the situation of the Polish minority only.

We remind that President of the European Parliament underlined many times: “Undoubtedly, the Polish minority is the most important for Poland in Belarus. But if we want to resolve this problem, we should consider it broader. We should speak about threats for democracy, for democratic freedoms, for all independent organizations. Prisons are filled in Belarus again, and not only by representatives of the Polish minority, who are detained temporarily, but by activists of Belarusian opposition”.

In its turn the Belarusian propaganda has used the meeting of Sikorski and Lukashenka in Kyiv for its own benefits. On February 25 in the evening the Belarusian TV in its news broadcasts reported that there have never been and there are no conflicts between Poland and official Minsk. This statement, as well as Lukashenka’s cynical words that “there were no arrests”, could be regarded as carte blanche for further violations of rights in Belarus; and not only of Polish minority’s rights, but rights of all citizens.